A simple "hello world" makes a great test (see here).
I have also provided an example to test your OpenGL/glut set up
here.This is the same table provided on the C++ Resources
page but is provided here for quick click convenience. I have
personally tested all the combinations listed above either at Monty or
on my home computer.
** Proper Usage Tip: you may want to add the
flags -pedantic -Wall as well.
See note about wrong use of
Arrays (use vectors if you want dynamic allocation).

** Troubleshooting Tip: note if you use the
type numeric_limits in visual studios the compiler will recognize it,
but command line (linux or mingw on windows) you will need to #include
<limits>

** Troubleshooting Tip: M_PI is defined in "math.h" on
linux, however it depends on which compiler you are using on Windows.
If you are using mingw32-make in a command window it will recognize it,
however Visual Studios Win32 project will not. You can test it on your
own machine with this sample file here.
One
way
to
handle this is to add a define with an ifndef statement:#ifndef M_PI
#define M_PI 3.141592654;
#endif

** Troubleshooting Tip: if you are splitting out your
files into classes are are not using an IDE, please remember to use the
#ifndef / #define / #endif syntax in your .h files and/or #pragma
once. There is an excellent explanation here.
Some programmers believe it is safest to use both (see bottom of the
thread here).

** Troubleshooting Tip: If you
should ever need to run Visual
Studios without a shortcut:
2015 at Monty is in C:\Program
Files
(x86)\Microsoft
Visual Studio 14.0\Common7\IDE\devenv.exe2017 on your Home Computer lives in
C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft
Visual Studio\2017\Community\Common7\IDE and you can use the CMD window
to cd to that path and run devenv.exe

Makefiles

With respect to makefiles, most IDEs have
functionality that does not require you to create a makefile, however
this becomes necessary if you are using multiple files with Geany.
There is an excellent tutorial on Makefiles here.
I
have
also
provided an example make file above for both Windows and
Linux for the OpenGL_TankTemplate starter game in the dropbox.There are step by step makefiles in the dropbox as well.